A sign expressing the sentiment among the friends of Timothy Paciello, 16, of Lower Pottsgrove, who was killed while crossing High Street after a car driven by Robert Sitler struck him. (Photo by Frank Otto/The Mercury)

LOWER POTTSGROVE — Just blocks from where 16-year-old Timothy Paciello Jr. was fatally struck by a pickup truck, Magisterial Justice Edward C. Kropp Sr.’s courtroom was filled beyond capacity with people clad in purple looking to support the fallen teen’s family at a preliminary hearing Friday.

“(We’re here) to support his family,” said Lynn Hansberry, who was wearing a corsage with a purple ribbon tied in it.

Others standing around her wore buttons featuring a picture of Paciello with his face poking out from a hooded sweatshirt. Some simply wore purple clothes.

Robert Sitler, 43, stands accused of vehicular homicide in Paciello’s death and lying to investigators about who was behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Silverado, saying that his girlfriend Denise Dinnocenti, 43, was driving. Sitler was also accused of coercing Dinnocenti’s 11- and 13-year-old sons, who were in the truck, into lying to police as well.

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Paciello was killed after being hit by the truck Nov. 12 while crossing East High Street in the area of Sunnyside Avenue. According to investigators, Paciello was struck in the left turning lane.

The first witness called in Sitler’s hearing testified that Sitler’s truck was tailgating her for roughly a mile before he allegedly struck Paciello.

“It just kept tailing me down the street,” Regina Quawasmy said.

She said she tapped the brakes “four or five times” to try and slow the tailing vehicle down before turning on her right turn signal well in advance of turning off the road.

At that point, Quawasmy said the truck following her veered around her vehicle.

Lower Pottsgrove Police Officer Matthew Mitzler, the first officer on the scene following the accident, testified next.

Arriving a minute or two after he was dispatched at 8:55 p.m. Mitzler said he found Paciello against a curb with a weak pulse.

“He was bleeding from the nose, the mouth and ear,” Mitzler said.

At that point in the testimony, Paciello’s mother, who sat behind the prosecuting attorneys Lauren McNulty and Erik Crocker, covered her face and leaned back. Previously, and again after she composed herself, she stared resolutely in the direction of the defense’s table where Carluccio sat with the red-jump suited Sitler.

Mitzler said he and an off-duty EMT in the area performed CPR after they lost Paciello’s pulse and loaded him into an ambulance after they brought it back.

Since he was told that Dinnocenti was the driver of the truck, Mitzler said he took her to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center for a blood draw.

The third and final witness was a Montgomery County detective, David Schanes, who led the crash investigation and reconstruction. Although his crash report has not yet been finished, Schanes reported some of his findings.

He reportedly got to the scene more than two hours after the incident.

“Mr. Sitler had an odor of alcoholic beverage,” Schanes said of his time speaking with Sitler after the incident. “He said, ‘Yes, I had a few.’”

Schanes testified that through a formula used in situations such as this, he determined how far Paciello’s body traveled from the point of impact where a scuff mark left by his shoe was found.

“From that point to where he came to rest was a distance of 182 feet,” Schanes said.

The truck was also likely traveling at a speed of 50 miles per hour at the time of impact, 15 mph above the road’s speed limit, Schanes said.

In Schanes’ opinion, the incident was caused by a “combination of things” that included Sitler’s vision being impeded by the car ahead of him before he swung out to pass it.

Carluccio attempted to have most of the charges thrown out, saying the incident was more of an “accident” than “criminal.”

“My client, your honor, did absolutely strike a person who went a very far distance. He’s testified to that,” Carluccio said to Kropp. “(But) I see an accident here.”

Addressing the charges that Sitler tampered with evidence, Carluccio said that could not have occurred.

In her argument, McNulty addressed that, saying tampering can also include “concealing,” which she maintains was done when he did not get a blood draw to provide evidence.

Carluccio said that the incident was more a case of “negligent” driving than “reckless” driving.

“I just want it to be known that my client is very upset here,” Carluccio said.

McNulty maintained that homicide by vehicle charges were appropriate due to him “blindly jumping into a lane without being able to ascertain the risk.”

Sitler was held on all charges and his bail was kept at $1 million cash due to the fact that Kropp determined him to be a flight risk.

“He was moving around the country” in the past, Kropp said.

While living in Florida, Sitler plead guilty to manslaughter charges in 2006, according to the St. Augustine Record, after he caused a head-on collision with a 67-year-old woman in Alabama. According to prosecutors at the time, lack of sleep and alcohol played a factor in that crash.

“The defendant knows what he’s looking at,” Kropp said.

Dinnocenti’s hearing was held before Sitler’s. All of her charges, which included insurance fraud, two counts of corruption of minors, false reports and tampering with evidence, among other similar offenses, were waived for court.

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.